PixelMatrix

A few weeks ago I created this

I call it PixelMatrix and it's build with a Raspberry Pi Zero W.

The idea came when we wanted to add a gif to a picture frame to give it some action. This was not possible :(

I remembered the Pixel project that got funded on Kickstarter, but wanted to give it a try myself.

It's far from finished, but the foundation is done. Read on if you'd like to give it a try yourself.

For help message me here on github, create and issue or tweet me @wishjuh

Hardware

At the core there is a Raspberry Pi Zero W cause it's so tiny! On top of it there is an Adafruit RGB Matrix HAT. You could wire it all yourself, but this HAT makes it easier and saver. And the npm package used has a MAKE file that is configured for the using the HAT.

Then all you need is the pixel matrix which I got from my friends at Aliexpress and when you there add some power too. I'm from Europe so I linked a EU plug :)

Almost forgot to mention the frame, a Ribba from Ikea.

Software

Because I don't need a GUI I installed RASPBIAN JESSIE LITE. To make it easy to flash this on a SD card I did use a GUI tho, my trusty friend Etcher, which is amazing!

After flashing you SD and booting up you'll need some internet. This post helped me out, but all you need is this part:

Edit the file etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf. (sudo nano etc/wpa_supplicant/wpa_supplicant.conf)

Add this to the end:

network={ 
    ssid="my network name"
    psk="my network password"
    proto=RSN
    key_mgmt=WPA-PSK
    pairwise=CCMP
    auth_alg=OPEN
}

Reboot your Pi and you should be connected to Wifi to run this

sudo apt-get update -y
sudo apt-get upgrade -y

Node.js is required so it's best to install the latest Raspberry Pi compatible one. I used the following code

wget https://nodejs.org/dist/latest-v6.x/node-v6.10.3-linux-armv6l.tar.gz

tar -xvf node-v6.10.3-linux-armv6l.tar.gz
cd node-v6.10.3-linux-armv6l
sudo cp -R * /usr/local/
sudo reboot

When your Pi is up and running again you can clone this repo git clone https://github.com/mptrs/PixelMatrixExample.git

When it's done cd into the folder and run sudo npm install --unsafe-perm --verbose this is needed to MAKE the part of the code that will control the pixel matrix.

Examples

$ sudo node app.js --rain
$ sudo node app.js --perlin
$ sudo node app.js --animation animations/32x32/pacman.gif
$ sudo node app.js --animation animations/32x32/tree.gif

Todo

• create webinterface
• make it bigger
• look at the pixelpusher protocol
• look at processing.org

Credits

hzeller for the library to control the pixels and meg768 for the JS implementation which I copied. Will alter that code when I get a better understanding of it.